Bruker SMART 1000 X-ray diffractometer with CCD detector
The CCD detector has greatly improved the X-ray diffraction capabilities
of this facilities over the other point detector based instrument.
Data acquisition time has been reduced to 8-10 hours for most crystals,
crystals of much smaller size can be analyzed, and crystals exhibiting
some problems (eg. twinning) can sometimes be successfully studied.
A nitrogen cold stream (-120 to 25 °C) allows crystals to be analyzed
while held at low temperature. This provides protection for
samples that are air sensitive or temperature sensitive.
This instrument is operated only by the ASL staff crystallographer.
Samples are submitted to x-ray staff for analysis. Full data analysis
to final structure by the crystallographer is possible for
a higher cost. Preferably data sets are returned and users are
encouraged to solve the structure on their own with the help of
the crystallographer. Workstations for this are available in the
X-ray crystallography facility. Available software includes
TEXSAN and SHELXTL. A color printer is available for production
of high quality crystal structure pictures. A camera on
the microscope is available to photograph crystals.
Other X-ray facilities
GADDS software is available for the SMART 1000 instrument
which should eventually provide the capability for powder
diffraction studies, especially for samples that are air sensitive.
